History of Human Expansion
Timeline Year------------Event 1969------------First human on Luna 2053------------First human on Mars 2103------------Tycho City founded (originally called Tycho Base) 2129------------First Mars Colony 2140------------First manned mission to the outer planets 2141------------Meier interstellar probe launched to Alpha Centauri 2161------------Mars terraforming project initiated 2199------------First Callisto colony 2284------------Venus opened to colonization 2316------------Meier probe transmissions received detailing planetary conditions in the Alpha Centauri system 2317-2325-----Probes launched to all K class or hotter stars within 17 LY of Sol 2345------------First colony ship, the Santa Maria, launched for Alpha Centauri 2466------------First interstellar human colony established on New Earth, Alpha Centauri A 2467-2497-----First wave of colony ships set out towards all habitable star systems within 12 LY of Sol 2712------------Brechenhoff Incident – colonists set out for more distant stars in the 16 LY band 3038------------First colony ship arrives in Groombridge 1618 and establishes colony on Hades’ moon Elysium 3127------------First laboratory-scale wormhole created 3207------------First stable macroscopic wormhole 3212------------Interplanetary wormhole system starts construction in the Sol system 3214------------Wormhole endpoint launched to the Alpha Centauri system 3277------------Topeka-Tycho disaster 3303------------Sol-Alpha Centauri wormhole gate opened 3475------------Sol-Sirius wormhole gate opened 3542------------Wormhole gates opened to Tau Ceti and Epsilon Indi 3576------------Tau Ceti war begins 3612------------Sol-Tau Ceti gate destroyed 3625------------Sol-Groombridge 1618 wormhole gate opened 3627------------Present day Solar Expansion: 20th-24th century Early in the 22nd century, humans began to colonize the solar system. It started slow at first, outposts on the moon, a colony on Mars, outposts on Callisto. Over the next centuries terraforming technology was perfected. Venus was transformed into a paradise and even hostile places like Mercury have mining colonies near the edge of the daylight zone. Interstellar Expansion: 24th-33rd century After filling the entire solar system, the population of the human race continued to expand. Robotic probe missions had found planets around all the closest stars. Feeling the urge for exploration and the desire to find a place less crowded, giant colony ships were constructed and set out towards the nearest suitable stars. These sub-light ships cross interstellar space at about 5% the speed of light. Passengers are stored in suspended animation while multi-genreational crews ("Spacers") maintain systems and guide the ships. Humans have established permanent colonies in 11 star systems. Wormholes: 33rd-Present Stable microscopic wormholes were first demonstrated in the 32nd century, but the capability to stabilize the endpoints and enlarge the opening to allow the passage of anything but subatomic particles did not occur for another 80 years. Although the energy requirements make them impractical for transport on a planet's surface, they were quickly adopted for interplanetary transport and the first interstellar wormhole was launched towards Alpha Centauri. However, in 3277 the wormhole gate between Topeka-Kansas, Earth and Tycho City, Luna collapsed violently. Both cities were vaporized. It is estimated that 33 million lost their lives in the initial blast and another 14 million died from injuries and radiation sickness in the days and weeks that followed. After intensive investigations it was determined that the relative motion of the two endpoints caused the wormhole to twist "like an over-wound rubber band" (the scientists explain that this is an extreme over simplification and the actual explanation involves "folding hyperplane topologies in 14 dimensions"). Interstellar wormholes are now placed in solar orbit and are stabilized by allowing the ends to rotate at a rate that compensates for the relative angular motion. Inter-planetary wormholes were abandoned entirely because the motion required to prevent twisting is too great to compensate in a practical way.